The present invention relates to a weapon such as an antitank weapon to combat a tank from the top. In such a weapon, the projectile includes a shaped charge warhead, a propulsion means located in the tail section of the projectile for accelerating the projectile directly after the projectile is placed in flight, a stabilization guide means, a sensor means for detecting the target, and a solid state guide pulse generator for turning the projectile about its center of gravity.
Such an antitank weapon is disclosed in German Offenlegungsschrift [laid-open patent application] No. 2,830,859 and serves the purpose of combating a tank from the top so as to hit its roof sections, since frontal and lateral armor protection has been augmented considerably. For this purpose, the antitank projectile is in the form of a rocket and pivots, during its flight over the target, into a position where it is oriented from the top to the bottom so as to detonate its shaped charge in a vertical position at a distance above the tank.
The drawback of this defensive weapon is that the effectiveness of the shaped charge at the target depends on the attainable combat distance and is drastically reduced by a continuous horizontal movement during fly-over. In such a fly-over, the shaped charge will have only something similar to a spreading effect on the target, which may reduce its power up to 50%.
Another significant drawback of the prior art antitank weapon is that the course is detected by a magnetic type sensor which is operable only at comparatively short distances. Due to the fact that the magnetic field of the earth is deformed only within close range of the tank, the response accuracy of the sensor decreases by more than 50% at a range up to 4 m and it may lie even below 20% at distances greater than 5 m. Thus, tanks moving laterally away from the target direction during the flight of the projectile may possibly no longer be covered by the sensor. Moreover, if the projectile flies past the side of the tank, it remains ineffective in any case since its explosive charge is in a vertical detonation position.
Additionally, the known antitank projectile requires a complicated control device to guide it. For example, a plurality of pulse generators are necessary to turn the projectile into the vertical position.